Hot wall reactors can be used to deposit various materials on semiconductor substrates. The substrates can be accommodated in the process chamber of the reactors and precursors can be flowed into the process chamber to deposit films of material on the substrates. For a variety of reasons, including uniformity of electrical and physical properties, high purity and uniformity is typically desired for the deposited films. Deposition results, however, can be adversely affected by the presence of particulate matter in the furnace. In some cases, the particles can come to rest on or become incorporated into the films, thereby degrading the purity and uniformity of the deposited films.
A possible source of particulate matter contamination is material deposited on reactor surfaces. In the course of depositing films on substrates, material can be deposited on the surfaces of various reactor parts in the process chamber. This material can then flake off the reactor surfaces, thereby generating particulate matter that can contaminate deposited films.
Accordingly, to consistently achieve high quality process results, a need exists for processing methods and systems that can minimize the generation of particulate contaminants from reactor surfaces.